Readers critique The Post: Who — or what — is killing the semicolon?

Washington Post

18-07-2025

Every week, The Post runs a collection of letters of readers' grievances — pointing out grammatical mistakes, missing coverage and inconsistencies. These letters tell us what we did wrong and, occasionally, offer praise. Here, we present this week's Free for All letters.
Mark Lasswell's June 30 op-ed, 'This punctuation mark is semi-dead. People have thoughts.,' was dot-on!
He quoted Edgar Allan Poe as being ''mortified and vexed' by printers who substituted semicolons for the dashes in manuscripts.' Respectfully, Mr. Poe, there's a fine line between a dash and a semicolon.
Next thing you know, they'll be eliminating the ellipsis … & annihilating the ampersand! Or heaven help us, abolishing alliterations!
Please, please — we have bigger battles to embrace & engage; let the semi survive …
Sandy Pugh, Vienna
Perhaps the semicolon's loss of popularity over the past century has been compensated for by an increase in use of the dash, particularly the version known as the em dash (—). This form of punctuation is prominent in opinion pieces within The Post, to the extent that I wonder whether incentives are provided to encourage its use.
I conducted quick tallies of dashes within the eight opinion pieces that appeared on my screen alongside (but not including) Lasswell's column. I found 59, far exceeding the number of semicolons. The 'winner' was Max Boot's column 'Iran's nuclear program is damaged — not 'obliterated,'' in which 17 dashes were wielded, exceeding the number of paragraphs. For Boot, enthusiasm for the dash extended even into the column's headline. George F. Will's column 'Exploding U.S. indebtedness makes a fiscal crisis almost inevitable' was the only one from this collection that presented its thoughts unassisted by a dash.
According to Merriam-Webster, 'The em dash (—) can function like a comma, a colon, or parenthesis.' My opinion is that these elongated hyphens serve as distractions unless they are used sparingly. I would welcome a column similar to Lasswell's on reasons for the popularity of this form of punctuation.
Amos Abbott, Blacksburg, Virginia
The reports of the semicolon's semi-death are greatly exaggerated. In fact, it has evolved beyond the halls of grammar through embodied, communal praxis. On bodies, in journals and in the hearts of those who carry it as a symbol of survival, it has grown larger than a literary tool. It now serves as a widely recognized emblem for those who've lived through suicidality, depression and loss.
Project Semicolon, begun in 2013, reframed the punctuation mark as metaphor: The sentence could have ended but didn't. For many, this is not clever literary ornamentation; it is the choice to continue. A pause made visible. A commitment made tangible.
To miss the semicolon's cultural status is to overlook a vital chapter. Grammar evolves. So do symbols. What we are witnessing is not a disappearance but a rebirth — as an icon of meaning-making, of resilience and of collective reimagining.
Nicole Oxendine, Severna Park
Reporter Joe Heim got a rare early-morning laugh out of me in his June 20 Metro article, 'Eight-foot tall 'Dictator Approved' statue appears on Mall.' Heim contacted an anonymous person who said he had been part of a group that had worked on the poop sculpture that appeared last year. Heim asked Mystery Person whether he had anything to do with the new 'Dictator Approved' sculpture, but Mystery Person disavowed any connection. Diplomatically, Heim pressed, but Mystery Person declined to answer any more questions or agree to 'meet in an Arlington parking garage.'
Life can be light in the morning amid all the bad news. Who knew? Thank you, Woodward and Bernstein — I mean, Heim.
Joe Peluso, Rockville
The June 11 editorial, 'Why Congress should investigate Biden's health,' must have been written by the Editorial Board's younger members. In composing the sentence 'Yet health risks typically multiply in people's later years,' those of us for whom 80 is history would have omitted the unnecessary adverb 'typically.'
Robert Wallace, Reston
The July 5 online column 'Miss Manners: Cash gift might insult grieving friend' included appallingly inappropriate and unkind advice. The letter writer asked whether it was appropriate to give an unemployed and newly widowed young woman cash instead of flowers. Miss Manners decided to take the opportunity to display her entitled sarcasm by writing that the widow would somehow feel insulted to receive cash, following up with 'Of course, if your friend immediately starts her own public fundraising platform, which she will undoubtedly do …'
Though I'm delighted Miss Manners has apparently not found herself in the condition of poverty or profound loss, why make a disparaging musing about a widow she knows nothing about?
Suzanne Morss, Seattle
The writer is founder of Widows and Widowers of Alcoholics.
I read with great interest the July 14 Style article 'After Texas floods, group aims to return small comforts.' As a senior citizen who still takes her stuffies to bed with her, reading about the Lost Stuffy Project moved me to tears. The effort to replace the dear stuffed animals, blankets and other comfort items lost by children in the flooding was the best news I had heard in months.
Christine Brooks, Reston
The June 30 front-page article 'Christmas in June is on schedule for 9-year-old,' on celebrating Christmas in June, was worth, itself, a full year's subscription. The outpouring of love and support by neighbors and beyond brought tears and memories. Early in our marriage, my husband and I lost our 4½-year-old son to leukemia. It was a tragedy no family should have to endure.
I know many of us would have been happy to join in Kasey Zachmann's celebration. My granddaughter studying in New Zealand would have been happy to don her Buddy the Elf costume for Zachmann's parade. This event for a terminally ill little girl is proof enough that America never lost its greatness.
Ann Houston, Silver Spring
In phrases such as '[effect] owes as much to [cause X] as it does to [cause Y],' it should be obvious that X is the surprising or noteworthy cause and Y is the expected, unremarkable one. Yet I continue to see the opposite approach in The Post, including in the July 6 Sports article '3,000-K club adds Kershaw but is tougher to join now,' where the reporter wrote that 'reaching the hallowed 3,000-strikeout mark is a test as much of talent as it is of durability.' The reporter's wording got the message backward, because the point is that durability is increasingly rare among elite pitchers.
Unless the style gods have issued a bizarre contrary decree about such phrases, I urge The Post to remind its writers and editors of their traditional structure.
Perry Beider, Silver Spring
'Inking the capital, block by block,' the July 7 Metro Q&A with Gareth Fuller about his hand-drawn, hyper-detailed map of D.C., included the question 'What do you hope viewers take from your artwork?'
Fuller has a lot of hopes for the work and what viewers can both get from and add to it, metaphorically speaking. But the article did not stick to the tenets of basic journalism. So readers don't know where the piece is being shown, when it will be on view or how to go see it.
I see the reporter is an intern. Thus, the fault lies with the editors who are supposed to be mentoring this young woman in the formative stages of her career. And no kudos to her journalism school faculty, who have also sold her short. She's a good writer and will be a first-rate journalist — if her would-be guides step up.
Joan Hartman Moore, Alexandria
Gareth Fuller responds: I'm currently looking for a suitable partner to exhibit with. It would be brilliant to hang the work in a public space or institution ideally.
The July 6 Travel article 'She lost her diamond at an airport. A crew of strangers helped search for it.' was amazing. I might be able to top it.
Two decades ago, after browsing in the Annapolis Mall for several hours on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I got into my car around 5 to drive home. Upon placing my hands on the steering wheel, I noticed the setting on my ring where my diamond should have been was empty. My first thought was that I'd lost it forever, so I should just go home. But as I started driving, feeling tremendous sadness, I decided I could not give up that easily.
I returned to the spot where I had parked, exited my car, and started looking at the ground and in my car. No diamond. I returned to the mall and reentered the many stores I had shopped in, even asking clerks whether a diamond had been turned in. They tried not to laugh. I checked pockets of clothing I had tried on, and I walked the full length of the mall, scouring the floor while retracing my steps.
Finally, with about five minutes to 6, when the mall would close and the vacuum cleaners would do their work, I returned to the last store still open. I sat down in the seat where I had tried on shoes an hour or two earlier. I looked down at the carpeted floor and saw something twinkling back at me. With tears exploding in my eyes, I reached down to pick up my diamond. People around me looked on in sympathy, but I was too emotional to explain. Clearly, someone was looking out for me and guiding my hand.
Peg McCloskey, Davidsonville
Marc A. Thiessen is nearly unrelenting in his support of President Donald Trump, but he supports a rational, disciplined Trump who does not exist.
In his July 11 op-ed, 'Watch Trump make good on his Ukraine promises,' Thiessen used the phrase 'Trump should' or a slight variant of it seven times! It's necessary to phrase it this way because Trump doesn't usually do the things Thiessen is praising him for. One non-hypothetical action that Thiessen gave Trump credit for — reversing a Pentagon pause in weapons deliveries to Ukraine — was necessary only because of reckless moves by his own administration.
Tony Magliero, Hyattsville
'In birds, actress Lili Taylor sees a 'parallel universe,'' Sophia Nguyen's July 6 Book World review of 'Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing,' should strike a note for all of us. Birds are nearly ubiquitous, so travel for casual observation is not required. Taylor espouses 'lazy birding': finding a patch and waiting patiently. I think of myself as an incidental birdwatcher, sitting on my front porch watching the arrivals and departures of visitors to my standard-issue, standard-stocked feeder. Special events are surprise sightings of less common species. This year, it was a thrush, a variety I hadn't seen in years.
I also put raisins on my porch railing for the catbirds. These are bold, nearly fearless, ravenous, dark creatures that fix you with their intense stare. Just sitting and watching them is as tranquilizing and mesmerizing as watching flames in a fireplace or waves at the beach. The continual turning of a kaleidoscope.
Excepting the occasional taking of a dove by a red-tailed hawk, birding is a daily source of renewal. Try it; you'll like it.
William A. McCollam, Fairfax
Lobster bisque and foie gras on the International Space Station? Humans might be intelligent life forms, but we're far from compassionate ones. It's absurd that we can launch astronauts into orbit yet still cling to exploiting, abusing and killing Earth's other intelligent beings. And it's absurd that The Post would promote this practice by covering it in the July 8 news article 'An out-of-this-world menu for a French astronaut.'
Lobsters are complex animals who use sophisticated signals to explore their surroundings. Ducks and geese are smart, social creatures: Ducks use vocalizations and body language to communicate, and geese mate for life and protect their families. And just like you and me, these animals feel pain.
Foie gras is made from grotesquely enlarged livers of birds who are unnaturally force-fed. It's a practice so cruel that it's banned in many parts of the world. And lobsters' intricate nervous systems mean there's no humane way to kill them.
Even in zero gravity, cruelty weighs heavy. If astronauts want to inspire the next generation, they should ditch the violence and show the world that ethical, sustainable, vegan food can thrive anywhere — even 250 miles above Earth.
Scott Miller, Norfolk
The writer is an author at the PETA Foundation.
I was surprised to find the following sentence in the July 10 op-ed 'Emanuel's frustration with Democrats,' written by the extremely literate George F. Will:
'Before handing a diploma to a high school senior, the student had to hand over a letter of acceptance from a four-year college, a community college, an armed service or a vocational school.'
Did Will really mean to say that the student handing the diploma (to another student? to the principal?) had to hand over a letter of acceptance? I doubt it. I think he meant to say: 'Before receiving a diploma, a high school senior had to hand over a letter of acceptance.'
Frank Burgess, Washington
Tim Cunningham's July 13 op-ed, 'Donald Trump is not a clown. I should know.,' cautioned against demeaning clowns — who for centuries 'have been uniting people in laughter, levity and creativity' — by classifying President Trump as one. 'Try 'buffoon,'' Cunningham advised.
He could have invoked George F. Will's observation — in his June 2, 2020, op-ed, 'Four more years of this?' — that Trump, 'this weak person's idea of a strong person, this chest-pounding advertisement of his own gnawing insecurities, this low-rent Lear raging on his Twitter-heath has proven that the phrase malignant buffoon is not an oxymoron.'
Steven T. Corneliussen, Poquoson, Virginia